Privacy, risk and trolls: Dealing with the security challenges of YouTube fame

Unlike television and movie stars, these online celebrities face a different kind of privacy challenge because, by nature of the work they do, they are expected to be accessible and to interact with fans.

Keeping things private and running a successful video log (vlog) are not exactly two compatible goals. This is because, according to LaToya Forever, an online personality with two popular vlogs on YouTube, one of the secrets of YouTube success is keeping things “100 percent real and genuine.” This means broadcasting everything from adorable kid moments to family drama for the world to see.

“Sometimes it’s hard to wade through and decide what to share and what not to share,” said Nikki Phillipi, a lifestyle vlogger with over a million subscribers.

I understand the appeal to many of watching vloggers who are sharing their personal lives in a “100% real and genuine” fashion, but how on earth can they hope to balance such a lifestyle with privacy?

About the author, Graham Cluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy.

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